An operations management perspective on waste management in a food processing factory

Abstract

The EU waste framework directive and several other adjoining laws have put a lot of financial responsibility on the manufacturing community including the food processing industry. The responsibility for managing production wastes makes the very idea rather unsavoury from the business point of view. This work proposes that waste maagement can be the basis for long term benefits when implemented under a different production philosophy.

The paper proposes Lean production and Six Sigma as two management philosophies that can transform the way waste management is understood and applied in a production environment. Since Lean focuses on waste reduction and Six Sigma on eliminating errors in production, the paper supports previously held and well documented views that both can effectively and beneficially complement each other when deployed side-by-side. With every previously documented successful implementation of Lean or Six-Sigma, deliberate and controlled cultural transformation has been critical to the outcome of the process. The paper therefore makes a proposal for a cultural transformation plan based on Kotter’s 8-step model for leading change and Senge’s mental model.

An actual production situation was used as a case study and the outcome discussed in detail. Both production philosophies are extensively dependent on the mental orientation of the entire workers from top to bottom, therefore a performance improvement survey was also used to ascertain workers disposition to the changes that will inevitably occur. By analyzing both case studies and referring to antecedents, the paper concludes that there is a vast potential for success of Lean and Six-Sigma in a food processing factory.